


Burning Bright

by BubblegumRowe



Series: Star Guardians Fluff [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26482780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblegumRowe/pseuds/BubblegumRowe
Summary: Lux and Jinx have known each other since they can remember, and have been all but raised together since their parents' passing, forging a bond of friendship that has withstood the test of time and has only grown stronger the older they got. However, when they're chosen as Star Guardians by the First Star, the dynamic between them begins to change.Thrust into a conflict they know next to nothing about, the pair is forced to come to terms with their newfound power, and to learn how to entrust their lives to people they had not even met before. As they figure out who to trust and how to harness their new abilities in order to simply survive, a hungering darkness approaches the world of Runeterra, heralding the arrival of something far worse, and far more sinister.
Relationships: Ahri/Miss Sarah Fortune/Syndra, Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends), Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard & Jinx
Series: Star Guardians Fluff [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925278
Comments: 11
Kudos: 35





	1. Super Soakers

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as just some fluff about Star Guardians Jinx and Lux that I thought of during a game with those skins, but now I think I'mma try to make something out of it. Maybe. Dunno. Anyway, enjoy!

For a moment, Jinx hesitated, her finger hovering inches away from the doorbell. Then, with a decisive sigh, the redhead schooled her features and prepared herself for the annoyed look that’d be plastered on her friend’s face the moment she saw her standing there, and pressed the damn button. 

A few moments passed before Jinx heard the sound of footsteps from inside the house, followed by a voice she recognised as Lux’s yelling, “Coming!”

After another moment, the girl in question opened the door, wiping her hands with a white piece of cloth. And yep, sure enough. The sigh Lux heaved when she saw the redhead awkwardly kicking the welcome mat put Jinx’s own sigh to shame. 

“Is that blood?” Lux asked after looking the redhead up and down, taking in Jinx’s dishevelled appearance with a critical eye.

Jinx looked down at herself, then back to the pink-haired girl in front of her, raising an eyebrow. “No?”

“That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.”

“Hey Sparkles,” the redhead chuckled, a half-awkward-half-cocky smile blooming on her face at Lux’s mild annoyance. 

“Ugh,” Lux sighed, again, and rolled her eyes, admitting defeat as she stepped aside and pointed to the inside of her house. “Get in.”

Before her childhood friend could change her mind, Jinx obeyed the otherwise very calm and not at all commanding girl’s order and wasted no time entering the Crownguard residence, scrambling to take off her all-stars at the mudroom without falling over. Once Jinx was inside, Lux closed the door behind her and turned to the redhead, crossing her arms.

“You’re an idiot,” she stated without much ceremony, glaring at her friend with a look that was more worried than annoyed.

Jinx, hopping on one foot while she took off her other shoe, replied, “Aww, were you worried, Sparkles?”

Lux merely rolled her eyes and walked past the other girl, crossing the living room with purposeful steps and entering the kitchen at the other side. Once there, she quickly took a first aid kit from one of the higher cabinets and set it on the kitchen aisle, before sitting on a stool and nodding at the one beside it.

The redhead unceremoniously took the seat offered to her, dropping her schoolbag beside her stool and propping herself up on the aisle, resting an elbow on the granite surface and propping her head up with her hand. A small smirk bloomed involuntarily on Jinx’s face as she watched her friend dab alcohol on a little piece of cotton. “You should become a nurse. Or, like, a doctor. One of those who are first on the scene and whatnot,” Jinx chuckled.

“Shut up, dummy,” Lux grumbled, and smacked the side of Jinx’s head. “Principal Camille’s gonna want your head tomorrow.”

“Eh,” Jinx shrugged. “That’s a problem for future Jinx. Present Jinx wants hot cocoa and a hug.”

With another roll of her eyes, Lux pressed the small piece of cotton against the many small cuts scattered around Jinx’s face and neck, making the other girl wince. “Well, tough luck. Only thing present Jinx is gonna get is scolded.”

“You’re no fun,” Jinx stuck out her tongue at Lux.

“Nope, I’m not,” Lux replied, and discarded the now reddish piece of cotton she’d been using to clean Jinx’s minor injuries. She took another one from the first aid kid and dabbed it in alcohol as well, before taking Jinx’s hands in her own and rubbing the cotton ball against the bruises on the girl’s knuckles. “Also, if Vi grounds you again, I’m not gonna sneak you any sweets. Or help you with your English homework.”

Jinx gasped; way more dramatically than the situation warranted. “You wouldn’t!”

“I totally would.”

“Liar,” Jinx deadpanned.

Although she tried, Lux couldn’t hold the small laugh that escaped her at Jinx’s lightning-fast response to her bluff, and admitted defeat, “Okay, fine, I wouldn’t,” before adding, “But maybe I should. Maybe then you’d stop getting into all these stupid fights.”

Jinx grinned, and tilted her head to the side pleadingly. “C’mon, Sparkles. What else do you expect me to do in my free time? Macaroni sculptures? Learn how to play the rain stick?”

Lux heaved a sigh, fixing her friend with a glare. “Would it really be so much to ask, Jinx?”

“Yeah, kinda, not gonna lie.”

Another sigh. “Whatever.” Lux then pulled away from the other girl, and got up before throwing the slightly reddish pieces of cotton she’d been using to clean up Jinx’s wounds in the trashcan. “Go take a shower; you stink,” she said after a moment, not looking at her friend as she washed her hands in the sink. “I’ll slap some band-aids on you later.”

“Wow, rude much?” Jinx gasped in mock offense, but couldn’t stop herself from laughing at Lux’s pouty face in the window’s reflection. “But aye aye, ma’am,” she added after a pause, giving Lux a mock salute and hopping off the stool, before walking out of the kitchen like someone who didn’t need any help getting around in someone else’s house.

As she rounded the bend that led to the stairs, Jinx’s eyes involuntarily focused on the many pictures that lined the wall opposite the stair’s handrail, and, like every other time, the redhead felt surprised at just how many of those she was in. For every picture of Lux and Garen on display against the wallpaper, there was one that had Lux and herself, all the way from kindergarten to high school. 

Before she noticed, Jinx had stopped in front one pictures in particular, one that showed the two of them in the fourth-grade science fair, and the redhead felt a grin come to her face. In the photo, Jinx was holding two super soakers, guns akimbo style, smiling like a maniac, and running after a miniature-sized Lux, who seemed to be laughing her heart out as she fled from her. In the background, Garen ran after them, his glasses askew on his face, and trying very hard not to drop the monstrosity of a model volcano the pair of them had made for the science fair.

After a moment, the redhead looked back to the door that led to the kitchen. Although she couldn’t see Lux, she could hear the other girl talking on the phone, ordering pepperoni pizza—Jinx’s favourite. She sighed, still smiling, and turned back to the photo she’d been looking at, a photo which perfectly illustrated what their childhood had been like, and felt her heart melt. Just a little bit.

Okay, so maybe she could _try_ to be better. Hell, she’d been joking before, but if Lux ever did decide to become a nurse or something of the sort, all the time she’d spent dealing with Jinx’s injuries better count towards her residency. 

With that thought settling in her hyperactive mind, Jinx looked down at herself, and decided that the first order of business was definitely going to be a shower. And after that, she’d start making it up to Lux.


	2. Glow-in-the-Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad movie and pizza were exactly what Jinx needed to get back to her usual energetic self after her last bout of troublemaking, even if she fell asleep halfway through the movie. And although everything seemed fine, the evening prompted Lux to remember their childhood shenanigans, which led her to a puzzling dream that raised a myriad of questions and yet answered none of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't really sure about continuing to write this (I'm still not lol), but then I realised that I'm loving it, so here we are. There'll probably be another continuation later. Enjoy!

Jinx groaned in satisfaction as the burning-hot stream of water washed over her, and over the bruises she’d acquired earlier that afternoon. After a moment of basking in the warmth and relaxation the excruciatingly hot water provided, Jinx slicked her long hair back and leaned a hand against the wall, letting herself think about the repercussions she’d face the day after for the first time since she’d decked Sylas’ friends in the school grounds.

Surely Principal Camille was only going to give her detention or some sort of community service, right? A fight wouldn’t be enough to get her kicked out of her scholarship or something, would it? Nah, her grades were too good for that. Plus, Professor Heimerdinger would probably vote in her favour if that were the case. Maybe.

She sighed, slicking her long hair back, and turned her head to face the stream of water. And there was still Vi to worry about. Her sister was going to be bloody pissed when she heard about it. Hopefully she’d be too busy with whatever case she and Caitlyn were working to spend too long yelling at her. Plus, it’s not like Vi had been a saint in her teenage days.

“Pot calling the kettle black,” the girl chuckled mirthlessly.

***

After a suitable amount of time, Jinx exited the guest room’s bathroom wrapped in a towel and looked around for her clothes while she dried her hair with another, smaller, one. She didn’t find her school uniform. Instead, the redhead found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that most definitely belonged to Lux, as well as fluffy pink slippers. She’d know—she was the one who gave Lux the tee that said ‘In my defence, I was left unsupervised,’ which now sat neatly folded on the bed. With a chuckle, Jinx sat down on the bed next to the clean change of clothes and finished drying her hair, somewhat, before putting them on and hanging the towel on its respective rack inside the bathroom.

As she went down the stairs, two steps at a time, the girl heard Lux say something to someone at the door that she assumed to be whomever had delivered their pizza, and was proved right when she got to the landing and saw her friend carrying a box which had the logo of Pizza Hunt, Sivir’s pizzeria from the next neighbourhood, back to the kitchen. The smell alone was almost enough to make Jinx’s mouth water, just thinking about the melting cheese, the pepperoni with the perfect spiciness, the lava-like tomato sauce…

Before she could let her thoughts wander any further, the redhead shook her head and sauntered into the kitchen, pointed over her shoulder at the stairs, and asked, “Ay, did you take my clothes, Sparkles?”

Lux looked up from where she was busy re-cutting the pizza, since the cheese had always pretty much glued it back together by the time it arrived at her doorstep, and replied, “Yeah. Your uniform was dirty so I put it in the washer,” then added, nodding towards the living room, “Your phone is on the coffee table, by the way.”

“Coolio,” Jinx acknowledged as she took two plates from a cabinet and set them on the aisle. Then, opened the fridge and looked around until she found a jug of strawberry milk, which she took for herself, and a bottle of iced tea for Lux, and put them on the aisle as well. With practiced ease, Lux served them and then sat down to eat, and Jinx wasted no time in stuffing her face either.

“Where’s Garen and Auntie Tianna?” Jinx asked between bites after a moment, having noticed the two other members of the Crownguard household were missing. Since when did Garen skip a chance at scoring a bite of their pizza?

Lux swallowed her food, and then replied, “On an emergency trip. Something to do with the company, I think?”

“Oh, makes sense,” Jinx nodded, more to herself than Lux, and then added, taking another bite of her pizza, “I’ll keep you company tonight then, Sparkles. That way you won’t get too bored with, like, I dunno, those lame books Professor Fiora makes you read for Theatre.”

“Thanks?” Lux laughed, one hand in front of her mouth.

Jinx grinned, and gave the other girl a thumbs up. “Anytime.”

“In Professor Fiora’s defence, though, she assigned a film for us to see this time.”

Intrigued, Jinx raised a questioning eyebrow at Lux, “For real? Wait. No. I bet it’s, like, one of those old timey films, ain’t it? Nuh-uh. Not falling for it.”

“Okay, fine,” Lux giggled, and raised one of her hands in defeat, the other one occupied with holding her slice of pizza. “I think it’s from… 2127?”

“Oh, so just from the last century, then? Should be fine then, unless it makes your TV crumble into dust or something ‘cause it sucked all of its newness or something.”

Lux shrugged. “For what it’s worth, it does sound pretty interesting.”

Jinx just raised an eyebrow at the other girl, again, and gestured in a way that vaguely prompted Lux to keep going.

“Okay, so,” she began, “Apparently it’s about this guy, Freder, who lives in a kind of utopia, right? But then he finds out that while his city is super advanced and whatnot, there’s a bunch of workers living in subhuman conditions in the underground and that they’re what powers the utopia above them.”

“So… it’s a hundred-year-old dig on capitalism, is what you’re saying.”

Lux stopped to think for a second, and then shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much, I guess. Want to watch it?”

“Sure.”

Having expected to be turned down, Lux simply nodded, saying, “That’s okay.” Then, after a moment, stopped to think, and then nearly choked on her iced tea when the realisation hit her. “Wait, did you just say ‘sure’?” she sputtered.

“…Sure?” Jinx replied, tilting her head at her friend.

“Okay, cool,” Lux nodded, trying not to let her smile become much bigger than it already was as she also tried not to show how surprised she was that Jinx had agreed, and failed spectacularly at it.

***

As Lux loaded the dishwasher with the dirty dishes from dinner, Jinx plopped down on the outrageously comfy living room couch and grabbed Lux’s laptop from where it sat on the coffee table, and then, sadly, got up to connect the device to the TV via an HDMI cable. Once that was done, the redhead took her phone from the table and unlocked it, intent on sending a text to Vi to let her know she’d be spending the night at Lux’s, only to find a text from her sister already sitting in her unread messages.

For a second, Jinx’s blood ran cold, thinking that it was already due to that afternoon’s shenanigans, but then the rational part of her brain took over and said, rather loudly, that nah mate, it was too early for her to have heard about it. Then, the thought occurred to her that maybe it wasn’t, since Vi was a cop and all. But then, she realised that it was too early; it’s not like the police had been involved or anything. Thanks, ADHD.

Sighing, she stopped her brain from warring with itself further, and opened her chat with her sister, to find a text that pretty much put her in the clear:

“Oh, thank fuck,” she muttered, and composed a quick text saying she was going to spend the night at Lux’s.

“Something wrong?” Lux asked as she came into the living room and sat down next to Jinx.

“Nah, was just letting Vi know I’m gonna stay here tonight,” Jinx responded.

“Oh. Cool,” she replied. Then, she took a small box of band-aids seemingly out of nowhere, and showed it to Jinx, gesturing for the other girl to turn towards her. Once Jinx had done so, Lux took a few band-aids from the box and started carefully putting them on the largest of the redhead’s cuts—one on the bridge of her nose, another on one of her cheeks, and a third one wrapped around the ring finger of her left hand. When she was done, she gave a small nod of satisfaction, and set the band-aid box on the coffee table, feeling too lazy to go and put it back in the first-aid kit.

“Thanks, Sparkles.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Jinx thought of saying something, some sort of apology, thinking back to her reflexive moment earlier that evening, but came up empty, and just ended up opening and closing her mouth a few times like a fish. Then, having given up, the redhead stretched and yawned, before hitting play on the movie so they wouldn’t sit in silence. Afterwards, she shooed Lux further back on the couch, until the pink-haired girl was sitting far enough that Jinx could comfortably lie down on it, which she promptly did, and rested her head on Lux’s lap. Once she was lying down, she stretched again and turned her head up to look at Lux.

“For the record, if the movie inspires me to raise the proletariat against our overlords, I’m blaming you,” she deadpanned.

Lux laughed and rolled her eyes, then pulled on Jinx’s ear to make the other girl turn her attention back to the screen, saying, “Just watch the movie, Freckleface. You’re gonna fall asleep in the middle of it anyway.”

Jinx tried to turn back to her friend to stick out her tongue at her, but was held back by Lux pinching her ear again, and instead settled for muttering, “How could I stay awake with a pillow as comfortable as you, Sparkles?” with a small smirk appearing on her face.

Trying, and failing, to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks, Lux giggled and threw a lock of Jinx’s fiery-red hair on her face, causing the other girl to sputter as a few strands got in her mouth, and leaving her to mumble about traitors as the film began.

***

Almost three hours later, a bleary-eyed Lux watched the credits roll on the TV screen. As expected, Jinx had started snoring halfway through the movie, but for the parts she’d been awake for, she’d certainly tried her best to make an otherwise monotone film feel like watching a corny romcom. Lux felt a smile bloom on her lips as the thought crossed her mind, and looked down at the girl blissfully asleep on her lap. She ran her fingers through Jinx’s hair, for once not done up in her signature pigtails, and brushed a few locks away from the other girl’s face.

At times like these, Lux always felt strange, a mix of sadness and happiness with a pinch of feeling special that she was one of the very few people who ever got to see this side of Jinx—the side that was childish and unguarded, a far cry from her otherwise abrasive and headstrong attitude. It was odd to think that the girl dozing away so peacefully on her lap could single-handedly create so much chaos wherever she was. As she stroked Jinx’s hair, her fingers brushed over a small scar on her scalp, almost as long as Lux’s index finger and just under half as wide, and Lux felt a peculiarly fond smile appear on her face as the memory of how the other girl had gotten the scar came to mind.

They’d been around seven or eight back then. The two of them had just gotten completely obsessed with the Steel Valkyries anime, and Jinx had become super hyped with Justicar Kayle and the outlaw Morgana’s latest fight in that morning’s episode, and so the pair had found themselves in Lux’s backyard, playfighting with stick swords and water guns. Jinx, like always, went overboard in her antics and tried to do a back flip coming off the swing. And, yeah, sure, she stuck the landing—she just forgot about the swing’s seat, which came down from its arc and clipped the side of her head.

According to Aunt Tianna, Lux had almost given her a heart attack with how desperately she screamed, and from that point forwards Lux only remembered the amount of blood on Jinx’s head, Aunt Tianna’s worried face, and holding Jinx’s hand in the backseat as her aunt drove them to the hospital. Then, feeling sick to her stomach as she sat in the hospital’s waiting room as a doctor stitched together the cut on Jinx’s head. When everything was said and done, and Jinx had been awake again in her hospital room, Lux had kept pestering her to be careful and tried to act as Jinx’s personal maid, all of which the other girl had disregarded until Aunt Tianna laid down the law and forced her to stay still for more than five seconds, the bane of Jinx’s existence. After having given them both a scolding for the ages, of course.

Lux chuckled at the recollection, and bent down, nuzzling the side of Jinx’s head, and planted a small kiss on the scar. As she did so, the redhead stirred in her sleep, mumbling, “No… Sparkles, you can’t eat the cupcakes… they’re… killer cupcakes…”

She buried her face in Jinx’s hair as she shook with a small fit of laughter, and then took a deep breath, inhaling the surprisingly sweet, vanilla-like smell Jinx always had about her. After a moment, Lux straightened again, and quietly shook her friend until she stirred and wakened… somewhat.

“C’mon, Freckleface. Time to sleep,” Lux whispered softly, pulling up and then leading a seventy-five percent asleep Jinx to her bedroom.

Once there, Lux sat Jinx on the bed and took off the girl’s slippers, before gently prompting the half-awake girl to lie back down, and then pulling the comforter up to her chest. Afterwards, she stifled a yawn, and rounded the bed until she was on her side, and then laid down as well, putting an arm between her head and the pillow as she fixed her eyes on the ceiling. Outside, the night sky was too polluted with the city lights for anyone to see the stars properly, and so she turned her gaze to the numerous glow-in-the-dark stars that adorned the ceiling of her room. They’d been there as long as she could remember, and, for a second, Lux let herself indulge in the thought of how strange it was that she could barely remember her parents, but that something as mundane as those stars had had such a strong presence in her life.

Before she could go further down the rabbit hole of that train of thought, though, Jinx stirred beside her and threw an arm over Lux’s midriff, pulling herself closer in her sleep and hugging the other girl surprisingly tightly. Lux release a small, contented sigh, and then smiled in the dark, wrapping her other arm around Jinx’s shoulder and kissing the top of her head as the other girl nuzzled further into her. Funny how even asleep as she was, Jinx’s mere presence was enough to pull her back down to earth.

***

She was falling.

Her vision blurred as she plummeted towards the earth, so very distant below her and yet so despairingly close. She left a trail of stardust behind her, reminiscent of a shooting star she’d make a wish upon if she were home, staring at the sky through the window. There were others with her, their own trails shining vividly against the backdrop of a sky lit ablaze with a million different stars, eclipsing all that light with their own as they fell from the sky. Each of them was a different colour: red, green, blue, purple, and lastly, Lux’s own pink one.

Lux’s heart thundered in her chest, beating in an electric, erratic rhythm. It sent sparks coursing through her body, from the tips of her toes all the way up her spine, setting every nerve in her body on fire. It was ecstatic. Mind-blowing. It felt as if, for the first time in her short life, she was truly alive.

**Look within yourself,**

A voice. Not her own, but strangely familiar, like the voice inside her head. The voice only she could hear, which voiced her thoughts to herself.

**What do you see?**

The feeling had not yet faded, but Lux could feel it becoming fainter with every passing moment. In its last echoes in her body, she felt an inexplicable pull towards another of the shooting stars; the red one. Unlike the others, Lux could see someone inside of it, enveloped in a vermilion glow, plummeting head-first, unconscious, towards the ground hundreds of miles below them.

**Whatever you find you must keep,**

There. That’s what the light inside of her was being pulled to, by a force even stronger than gravity. And, in a single beat of her heart, she knew who was inside that star. There was only one person in the universe who was able to exert that much pull over her. As she came to that realisation, she finally noticed what was wrong. Jinx wasn’t moving. She hurtled towards the earth at an alarming speed, comatose inside her cocoon of light, and as Lux watched her, incapable of doing anything, she saw her best friend come apart, leaving blazes of starlight brighter than any other star behind her.

Lux felt tears spring at the corner of her eyes, and futilely stretched out her arm, her hand grasping at the air, helpless as she, too, collapsed unto herself, shattering into a million different pieces, and vanishing into a nothingness darker than the void.

**You cannot fear what lies beneath.**

***

Lux awoke with a start, bolting upright on the bed with a choked gasp. Her heart felt tight in her chest, beating against its walls. For a while, it was difficult to breathe; her vision was unfocused, blurry in the grey light that filtered in through the gap in her curtains. She couldn’t remember what it was she’d been dreaming about, but a feeling of dread made itself known as it spread through her spine, giving her goosebumps. She felt tears on her eyes and angrily rubbed them away, before letting herself fall back down on the bed.

After a moment, Lux turned on her side, and realised that Jinx had already gotten up—a rare enough occurrence in of itself, especially considering the sound of raindrops falling against her window, and the fact that her alarm hadn’t yet gone off. She put her hand on Jinx’s side of the bed, noting it was already cold, and then sighed, and picked up her phone from the bedstand to look at the time. Her alarm was going to sound in ten minutes, and she could hear people talking downstairs, which must mean Aunt Tianna and Garen were back from their impromptu trip.

Lux felt drained, uncharacteristically so. She let her phone slip from her hand onto the bed, and went back to lying on her back, lacing her fingers over her stomach. She couldn’t shake the feeling that her dream must’ve been important somehow, nor could she remember what exactly had it been about, no matter how much she thought about it. She sighed again, and turned her head to the window, and watched the rain peltering against the glass pane. So, it was going to be one of those days, huh?


	3. Hard Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a regular morning at the Crownguard household, except not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit shorter than the others, I think, but I had a lot of fun writing it. Bit angsty, tho. Enjoy!

She sat on a cliff, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself, wordlessly watching as the sun began its descent towards the horizon, slowly sinking beneath the waves of a calm, crystalline sea. The fading rays of the sun were warm against her skin, painting everything she could see with an exquisitely beautiful orange hue. Yet, somehow, she felt frozen, a black hole on the dreamlike landscape, drinking in all the light the sun could give as if it was a drug.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Jinx chuckled, the feeling of hearing that voice again after so long leaving a bad taste in her mouth. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want any of my thoughts even if they were for free.”

“You should talk to me while you still have the chance, you know,” her friend remarked.

“You’re not even here.”

“I could be.”

“But you ain’t,” Jinx snapped. Her chest suddenly felt tight, her heart beating faster for no reason at all as a feeling of dread creeped up up her spine, leaving her breathless as she hugged herself and buried her face in her arms. She felt anger boiling inside of her, leaving a bad taste on her mouth. What right did she have to be angry? She was like a parasite, a putrid creature who fed on others to keep on living, taking everything and giving back nothing. And still, she always hungered for more. She always wanted to see one more smile; hear one more laugh; be hugged one last time.

“Why does it matter? What are you so scared of?”

Jinx scowled, feeling tears prickling the sides of her eyes. After a moment, she raised her head and turned to Lux, only to find that she was gone—that there was no one sitting on top of that cliff with her, that there never had been. She made a sound half-way between a laugh and a sob, choking back her tears, before turning back to the sun, now completely hidden under the waves as the moon made its way up the sky.

“Being by myself,” she heard herself answer, voice barely above a whisper. “I’m afraid of ending up alone.”

As soon as the words had become more than thoughts, hidden deep within the recesses of her mind, Jinx felt something bloom inside her chest, a hungering darkness offset by an all-encompassing light. It radiated energy inside of her, electric currents travelling up and down her body, setting her nervous system on fire with each pulse, every beat of her heart. It was the best and the worst feeling she’d ever had. She felt more alive than ever before, but couldn’t shake the feeling that it must’ve come with a cost. 

*** 

Jinx woke up slowly, her brain struggling to get itself up to speed in her sleep-addled state. She was still clinging to Lux, quite like the way a child clings to her teddy bear. Sighing contentedly, she hugged the other girl more tightly, burrowing her face in her hair, and felt all her worries slip away. Lux always had that effect on her. Maybe it was the way she looked at Jinx, like she really thought she mattered, like she saw her as more than a troublemaker. Or maybe it was Lux’s unlimited kindness, like how she’d taken care of her the evening before, even though she clearly disapproved of Jinx’s habits. Or even something as simple as her scent, the way she always somehow smelled of coffee and chocolate chip cookies.

Some time later, Jinx finally let go of Lux, and rolled back to her side of the bed. She sighed again, and opened her eyes, conforming herself with the fact that she probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. She couldn’t recall what her dream had been about, but the uneasiness that crept into her chest at merely trying to remember made her think that perhaps it was better left forgotten.

It was still early, she realised, much earlier than when she usually woke up; the sun was still only starting to rise, only the tiniest rays of sunlight filtering in through the gap in the curtains and lighting up the little motes of dust floating through the air. As she contemplated the possibility of getting up even though it was still so early, her thoughts again turned to wondering what was going to happen at school later. Sure, it wasn’t the first time she and Sylas had duked it out—in middle school they fought pretty much every other day. But she had been doing better in regards to that. It’d been over a year since she’d gotten into trouble with the school, and a little bit longer than that since she’d physically fought with Sylas.

So, what was going to happen? She wasn’t really a model student, but she’d always fulfilled the requirements for her scholarship; her grades in subjects that had math involved were always great, and even though she left something to be desired when it came to subjects like history and, especially, English, her grades were seldom below a B+, due in no small part to Lux helping and pretty much forcing her to study. They weren’t going to kick her out over just one fight, were they? I mean, technically it hadn’t been just the one, but yesterday’s had been the only one in school grounds, in addition to being the first in over a year. After a while, she rubbed a hand on her face, silently cursing herself for losing her head at Sylas’ friends’ comments.

“Right,” she sighed through her fingers. “Time to get up.”

*** 

A little less than an hour later, Jinx found herself in Lux’s kitchen, dressed in her school uniform and an apron, holding a large bowl and mixing together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar—the beginnings of a batch of pancakes. She bobbed her head along to a song playing softly on the Bluetooth speaker she’d borrowed from Garen’s room, sashaying around the kitchen.

“Hello again, friend of a friend,” the redhead mumbled, stopping for a moment and setting the bowl on the countertop to add the milk, eggs, and the butter. In the time it’d taken for her to shower and brush her teeth, the previously rather sunny sky had become overcast, with dark clouds hanging low to the ground, threatening to rain at any moment. And, just as she thought of that, watching the street through the kitchen window, the first raindrops began to fall. 

She’d always liked the rain, even more so when she was at Lux’s, and not only because spending too long in the sun usually meant she’d get sunburnt. Nah, it was some hidden charm about the suburbs where her friend lived, some sort of je ne sais quoi that her and Vi’s apartment in the city just couldn’t really compete with. Plus, Jinx had always loved playing in the rain, even if it meant she’d get scolded by Auntie Tianna later. And probably catch a cold as well. What could she say? Jumping in puddles was very relaxing as a kid.

A small grin came to her face at the thought, and, speaking of splashing in puddles, moments later a car pulled up to the Crownguard’s driveway, splashing water everywhere, and out of it stepped both Aunt Tianna and Garen, both of them rushing to get inside as quickly as possible while covering their heads with their briefcases. A few seconds later, she heard the front door opening, and Garen muttering a curse under his breath, followed by Aunt Tianna’s out of breath reprimand. Despite the situation, however, Jinx still heard a note of humour in both their voices as she poked her head out the arch the led to the kitchen and looked to the entry hall, where the pair of them were in the process of shaking the rain from their coats and taking off their shoes.

“Hey, guys!” Jinx chuckled with a small smile. “How was the trip?”

Garen looked up from where he was struggling to take off his oxfords and grinned when he saw who’d spoken. “Hey, Freckleface! What’re you doing here? Did Lux beg you to help with her math homework again?”

“Nah,” she replied. “Just tried to bore me to death with one of those old-timey films.”

Tianna just shook her head slightly, lips quirking up at their exchange, and set her boots in their place before climbing the stairs barefoot, saying. When she reached the top of the stairs, and Jinx no longer needed to be leaning out the door to look at her, Tianna kissed the top of Jinx head and ruffled her hair, before setting her hands on both of Jinx’s shoulders.

“Good morning to you, as well, Jinx,” she said, bending slightly to examine Jinx’s face and the band-aids Lux had put on her cuts the day before. “Everything alright, love?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure, Auntie,” she lied. “I just fell on your rosebushes yesterday; it wasn’t anything serious.”

Tianna looked suspiciously at Jinx for a moment, until the redhead turned to Garen, only now coming up the stairs, and asked, pointing to the bowl she was still holding, “Do you guys want breakfast? I can make you some pancakes.”

“Oh God, yes please!” Garen groaned, then added, “I hate airplane food.”

Jinx laughed, extricated herself from Tianna’s grasp, and went about adding the ingredients to make enough food for everyone. As Garen entered the kitchen, put an arm around Jinx’s shoulders and squeezed, ruffling her hair with his other hand and leaning down. “Fell into the rosebushes, huh?” he laughed, and then let go of her when she elbowed him in the ribs, struggling to contain her own grin.

The chances of Aunt Tianna buying that story were slim to none, but in her defence, she had fallen into her aunt’s rosebushes before, and more than once at that, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch for an excuse. A poor excuse for the number of cuts, yes, but not an unbelievable one. Plus, what kinda rosebush leaves bruises?

Jinx chuckled quietly, scooped some of the batter onto the frying pan, and added small bits of chocolate for Lux, before chopping up a banana to put in Garen’s pancakes. As she did so, Tianna and Garen went about setting the table and brewing some coffee, a comfortable silence settling over them as they worked to the rhythm of the music still playing from Garen’s borrowed speaker.

*** 

“Hard times!” Jinx fake screamed the chorus of the song, then put the wooden spoon she’d ben using as a microphone in front of Garen, who was more than happy to comply.

“Gonna make you wonder why you even try!”

“Hard times!” Back to Jinx.

“Gonna take you down and laugh when you cry!” Garen added, playing an air guitar.

“These lives!” Jinx sung, and then offered the ‘mic’ to Tianna.

“And I still don’t know how I even survive…” the older woman said with slight a roll of her eyes, but smiling nonetheless.

“And I gotta get to roc— oh hey Sparkles!” Jinx shouted at the top of her longs, until she was interrupted by Lux as the other girl entered the kitchen, also dressed in her school uniform, and staring at the three of them with a slightly confused expression on her face.

After a moment, the pink-haired girl shook her head and laughed. “Good morning, you weirdoes.”

Garen and Jinx laughed together, and Tianna beckoned her niece closer, kissing the top of the other girl’s head as well when she complied.

“Right,” Garen began. “Now that we’re all here, let’s eat already! These pancakes are making my mouth water, dude.”

And, without further ado, the four of them sat down on the table, and then dug in.


	4. Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinx's dreadful confrontation with Principal Camille Ferros. Except... it was really more of a pep talk? What the heck?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally intended to make Camille a bit harsher, but I... kind of couldn't. I love the idea of Camille being sort of mellow on the inside a bit too much to not add it lmao. Enjoy!

Jinx watched the suburbs pass her by, obscured by the rain outside and the condensation on the car’s window, and suddenly felt like she was ten years old again, being driven to the school by Aunt Tianna after a sleepover at their place. Which, to be fair, kind of _was_ the situation, except that both her and Lux were seventeen now. Surreptitiously, she drew a little skull on the car window, and signed “Jinx was here” under it, chuckling quietly at how little things had actually changed since then.

“How’s Vi, love?” Tianna asked suddenly, pulling Jinx out of her thoughts. The woman looked at the girl through the rear-view mirror, and added, “It’s been a while since she swung by the house to say hi.”

“Eh,” Jinx shrugged, slumping back on the car seat. “She’s doing alright, I guess. Pretty busy with her job and whatnot.” She stopped to think for a moment, and then laughed, “Plus, I’m pretty sure she’s dating her boss and just hasn’t told me yet for some reason, so I guess there’s that.”

“What makes you say so?” Tianna chuckled, turning in her seat to get a better look of Jinx in the backseat, before taking her gaze back to the road.

The redhead shrugged again. “Well, I walked in on them last Wednesday. So, y’know, seems like pretty reliable info.” 

Lux turned to her, raising a questioning eyebrow as a blush creeped up her cheeks. “Wait, really?”

“I mean, they tried to pass it off as work, but, like, looking over some files doesn’t make your face all red and your lips swollen, does it?”

Tianna laughed. “Well, that’s good, then. It was time Vi started dating again, and Sheriff Caitlyn’s a good woman; I’m sure she’ll treat your sister well.”

Jinx scowled at the seat in front of her, picking on a little loose thread on her skirt. “I guess. So long as they don’t bang on the living room couch or something, sure.”

Lux, now redder than Jinx’s hair, made a noise that was halfway between a choke and a laugh, and slapped the other girl’s arm with the back of her hand. “Jinx!”

“Ow!” The redhead hissed, pulling her arm away from Lux, and then glared at her friend, rubbing the spot on her arm that’d been wrongfully targeted. “What was that for? It’s true! I don’t wanna play videogames on the same couch my sister had sex. What the hell, Sparkles?!”

Tiana cleared her throat in the driver’s seat, and gave both girls a look through the rear-view mirror, effectively putting the subject to an end. “Anyway,” she said after a moment, bringing the car to a halt next to the curb, parking it in front of their school. “Here we are.”

“Thanks for the ride, Auntie,” Jinx said.

Now that the car was stopped, Tianna turned back in her seat to look at them, and nodded, “No problem,” before adding with a small smile, “If it’s still raining when you girls get off school give Garen or I a call, you hear? No need for you two to catch the bus in the rain.”

“Sure thing!” Lux answered, already ushering Jinx out of the car and into the rain, which by now had thankfully subsided into a light drizzle.

“Bye!” the pair of them echoed as they climbed out of the car, and then rushed towards the school gates, holding their backpacks above their heads.

“Be safe!” Tianna still managed to say before Jinx had shut the door with her foot, but was pretty certain neither girl had heard her. Not that it would’ve made much difference either way, but at least it’d have taken a bit of weight off her conscience. After a moment, the head of the Crownguard household sighed, and drove away.

Jinx and Lux laughed as they ran past the school gates, joining the other students only just arriving. Most of them were carrying umbrellas, but a few others joined them in their mad dash towards the entrance, where a throng of other students and a few professors were already in the process of shaking off the water from their own umbrellas, or from themselves.

As they reached the entrance, Jinx skipped over the steps that led to the entrance itself, and skidded to a halt in front of the doors, almost falling over when Lux bumped into her, but managing to steady herself at the last moment. Inside, some of their peers were mingling about before homeroom, talking animatedly despite most of them being somewhat damp from the rain and it being before eight in the morning. For all intents and purposes, it was a morning like any other, Jinx realised. Most of her classmates would probably be worried about professor Heimerdinger’s propensity to have a pop quiz on rainy days, not the possibility of being suspended or kicked out of school.

Lux ran a hand through her hair, and adjusted the ribbons that held her fluffy pigtails in place. Then, as if sensing the uneasiness crawling up Jinx’s spine, bumped the redhead’s shoulder with her own, saying, “Relax, Jinx. Everything’s gonna turn out fine.”

Jinx scoffed, “For you, maybe. You’re not the one who’s gonna get your ear blasted off by Principal Ferros.” She was grateful for the reassurance, really, but the director of their school had a reputation for ruthlessness and despising acts of rebellion. So, Jinx failed to see how, exactly, things could turn out fine for her.

“Thankfully,” Lux laughed. “But, come on, Jinx, be real. You’re probably just gonna get some detention or something. It’s not like it’s the first time, you know?” She took her friend by the hand and started pulling her towards their lockers, adding with another laugh, “I mean, I should hope it’s the last, but sadly I think I know better than that by now.”

“Oh, haha!” Jinx stuck out her tongue at the other girl, even if she couldn’t see it as she pulled Jinx through the crowded corridors of their school, somehow managing not to bump into anyone as she guided them to their lockers. Once there, the two wordlessly exchanged the textbooks they wouldn’t be needing for the ones they would, and then Lux took Jinx’s hand again, and rushed them to the doors of their classroom.

Most of their classmates were already there, and Jinx could see Professor Heimerdinger’s steaming mug of coffee sitting on the table, which meant the minute man must’ve been somewhere close by. As they entered their classroom, the pair were met by Ekko and his small group of friends, though only Ekko came over to talk to them.

“Hey, Jinx!” the boy said, rather loudly, upon seeing them enter the room, raising his hand in greeting, and then added, nodding at Lux, “And hello to you, too, Lux.”

“What’s up, man?” Jinx replied, bumping her fist against his. Then, nodding towards Sylas’ uncharacteristically empty seat, asked, “Where’s the dimwit?”

“Hell if I know,” Ekko shrugged. “Probably at home, I guess. You _thrashed_ him yesterday, dude.” The boy chuckled, and then pointed to his eye, saying, “Rumour has it that his eye got so swollen that it looked like when he was stung by that bee in sixth grade. You remember that?”

“Yeah,” Jinx chuckled, dropping her backpack on her desk, before leaning against it. “But come on man, I didn’t even hit him that hard.”

“Pshh, I dunno, man. The video kinda says otherwise.”

“He does have a point,” Lux said suddenly, already having sat down on her chair, and causing Jinx to turn to her and raise an eyebrow. “What?” she shrugged. “It was on Twitter. You can’t expect me _not_ to see it.”

The redhead just shook her head, “Still, what kinda wimp refuses to come to school just because he’s got a black eye?”

Lux put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, and squeezed it. “Jinx, c’mon.”

“What?”

“You once skipped school because you stubbed your pinkie toe, you wimp.”

Jinx opened her mouth to say something, but before she had a chance to retort, she was interrupted by a rather loud “Good morning!” Especially considering it’d come from such a small man. And, in the span of a few seconds, the discussion of Sylas’ wimpiness was forgotten as they and most of their classmates rushed to take their seats.

Professor Heimerdinger was a short, blond man, who, somehow, was always dressed impeccably in his suit and lab coat. His hair was greying at the temples, but despite that he still managed to look a little younger than he supposedly was. Sure, he was about the same size Lux had been in middle school, but for a man of such a minute stature, he also had quite the presence in the room, and, perhaps even more surprisingly, had the respect—if not the affection—of most of his students.

He repeated his greeting, receiving a chorus of replies this time, and then cleared his throat, before announcing, “Today we’re going to have two new students join us!” He gestured to the door, and beckoned them inside.

The two new girls were only slightly taller than Professor Heimerdinger himself, and, by the looks of it, were siblings. They didn’t really look like twins, but there were a lot of similarities between them, from the shape of their faces to the way their eyes had a kind of unique slant, not to mention the fact that both of them had ears that seemed slightly too big for their heads, which to Jinx seemed kind of funny. One of them had darkish-blue hair held up in fluffy pigtails that were a bit shorter than Lux’s and eyes that were pretty much the same colour, and the other had vivid green hair that fell almost all the way to her calves, though Jinx couldn’t decide if her eyes looked more yellowish or green.

“These are Poppy,” Professor Heimerdinger continued, indicating the blue-haired girl with a hand, “and this is Lulu,” he finished, singling out the green-haired one with his other hand. “They’re both new transfers, and new to the city, so make them feel welcome, hm?”

After a chorus of yesses, sures, and welcomes from the class, he cleared his throat again, and then looked over the classroom, before addressing the newcomers, “Lulu, why don’t you go sit in the empty seat in front of Ms. Harlow there, hm?” He pointed to the seat in front of Jinx, and then to the one in front of Lux, “And you can sit over there in front of Ms. Crownguard, Poppy.”

The two of them nodded, the one called Lulu far more animatedly than her blue-haired counterpart, and made their way to the appointed seats as Professor Heimerdinger arranged a sheaf of papers on his desk, and then turned back to the classroom to address the students.

“Right, so first things first,” he stated, looking down at what seemed like a pamphlet. “Professor Laurent and the Theatre Club are making a new production, but they still need some roles filled, so if any of you fine young people are interested in participating, auditions will be held today and tomorrow from half past five in the afternoon until seven in the evening at the school’s auditorium…”

Barely thirty seconds into the announcements, Jinx tuned out Professor Heimerdinger’s voice and turned to Lux, poking her arm and whispering, “Is that the thingy you mentioned last week, Sparkles?”

Lux simply nodded, knowing that if she deigned to give Jinx a real answer, they’d probably get called out for talking during class, even if technically the class hadn’t really started yet. Not that Professor Heimerdinger seemed to mind all that much, but still. 

After another five or so minutes of random announcements, which for some reason included the fact that their history teacher was apparently getting divorced and that they shouldn’t ask about his husband during his class, Professor Heimerdinger put down his clipboard, and pretty much dismissed them to go back to messing with their phones or talking with each other. Immediately, Jinx turned to Lux, already opening her mouth to speak, but stopped herself when she noticed the diminutive professor only a few seats away from them, heading straight for them.

“Good morning, girls!” he all but shouted once he was standing next to them. “I trust all is well?”

Lux nodded, replying with a small smile, “Good morning, Professor. And, yes, everything’s fine.”

“Good, good,” he nodded, then turned to Jinx, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with a small handkerchief. “I was instructed to direct you to Principal Ferros’ office, Ms. Harlow,” he said after a moment. “She wants to see you before homeroom is over.” He then put a hand on Jinx’s shoulder and patted it, adding, “Best not to keep her waiting, hm?”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned away from them and went to speak with the two new students sitting in front of them. 

Jinx turned to Lux, “On a scale from one to ten, how bad do you think it’d be if-”

“At least a twenty,” Lux answered decisively.

“Ugh, fine!” Jinx conceded, slumping in her chair. After another moment or two of feeling sorry for herself, the redhead picked herself up and stood, with a resolve she didn’t really have.

“Good luck!” Lux called after her as she made a beeline for the door.

***

Jinx forced herself to walk all the way to Principal Ferros’ office before she could have a chance to chicken out, and walked in with all the confidence of an amoeba, coming face to face with Karma, Principal Ferros’ secretary. The woman smiled kindly at her when she entered the principal’s waiting room, and nodded towards one of the surprisingly comfy chairs that were arranged against the opposite wall. 

“Make yourself comfortable, kid,” she said as Jinx sat down. “Ms. Ferros will be with you in a moment.”

Sighing, Jinx plopped down on a chair and settled in to wait, but, thankfully, it wasn’t long before Principal Ferros appeared at the door to her actual office, escorting a man out of it, and gestured for Jinx to come inside. Once Jinx was inside and Camille had closed the door behind her, the older woman wasted no time in rounding her desk and sitting down on her rather opulent chair, indicating that Jinx should take the seat opposite to her.

Once the redhead had done so, Camille leaned forward on her desk, lacing her fingers in front of her face, staring down the redhead, and began, “I assume you know why you’re here, Ms. Harlow?”

Jinx only nodded, but when Camille showed no intention of continuing without first receiving a complete answer, she replied, “Because of my fight yesterday.”

“That’s right,” the older woman acknowledged, then continued, leaning back in her chair and fixing Jinx with another stare. “Normally, something of that sort would be grounds for a suspension, especially considering this fight of yours has apparently been making the rounds on social networks.”

Jinx opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by Camille raising a hand. “I said ‘normally,’ Jinx.” The principal closed her eyes, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, and then looked back to Jinx. “So far, I’ve refrained from contacting either your sister, or your aunt.”

The redhead was taken aback for a moment, but managed not to stutter as she raised an eyebrow at the older woman, “Why?”

Camille took a deep breath, and looked Jinx up and down with a critical eye that made the younger girl squirm in her seat. “Because you’ve made great strides in bettering yourself this past year, kid,” she answered honestly a few moments later, heaving another sigh. “I believe you should face the consequences of your actions, yes, but I don’t think you should be punished for one small setback.”

The redhead stared with incredulity at the director of her school. What. The. Hell? I mean, sure, Principal Camille was a personal friend of Aunt Tianna, but they had never received special treatment from her while at school. If anything, Camille seemed even harsher than usual when it came to her and Lux. It’s like she couldn’t tolerate even the smallest mistakes. Hell, if Vi and Garen’s stories about Camille were true, she was a complete nightmare. This? This was fucking weird. Even when outside the school, Camille never seemed to stray from being this severe, all-seeing and all-knowing woman, and Jinx had never known her as anything else, and that’s saying something, considering she’d known her for pretty much as long as she’d known Aunt Tianna.

Camille sighed for what seemed the thousandth time only that morning, and then leaned forward on her elbows again. “I haven’t heard a single complaint about you in almost a year, Jinx. Not about playing on your phone, not about talking during class, and, especially, not about fisticuffs with other students.” The older woman took a report card from one of the many drawers on her desk, and set it in front of Jinx. “Your grades have improved drastically this past year, kid, and Professor Heimerdinger hasn’t been able to stop singing your praises ever since you participated in that joint project with Valoran University. Hell, I think you might be his new favourite pupil, kid.”

Jinx swallowed, and looked away from Camille, feeling her cheeks redden at the information, and at the compliment at the end. 

“So, no, I’m not going to suspend you because you allowed one your classmates’ barbs to get under your skin.” Camille pulled back the report card, and put it away inside its drawer. “Instead, I’m assigning you an essay. Not about any of your school subjects, but about you, and about what kind of person you want to be. Additionally, you will also be assisting Ms. Laurent as part of the theatre crew until the new play premiers.”

“I don’t understand,” Jinx said after a moment, looking to and then away from the woman in front of her, instead focusing on her hands on her lap. And she didn’t. Not really. She’d expected to get screamed at, not encouraged, and she _definitely_ hadn’t expected to receive a pep talk, sort of, from a woman known for her ruthlessness. Finally, she mustered up the willpower to look Camille in the eye, and asked, “Why’re you being so light on me? What’s the catch?”

Camille got up from her seat, rounded her desk, and leaned against it in front of Jinx. She put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, and gave her a slight, private smile. “Because I see a spark in you, Jinx. You’re obstinate and hot-headed, yes, but you’re also understanding and gentle, and incredibly intelligent, despite your best efforts to hide it. Most people see you as nothing but a troublemaker, and, yes, you sort of are one, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I imagine the world would be a terribly boring place if everyone was the same, child.

“There’s no catch. There’s only the fact that I want to see what you do with that spark, Jinx, because I know that whatever you choose to do with it, you’ll be great.” Camille squeezed Jinx’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to be discouraged from showing the world who you really are and what you’re really capable of because of something as insignificant in the grand scheme of things as a fight with one of your classmates. I want to push you, Jinx. I want to see what you’re capable of achieving if you can just let yourself flourish.”

Jinx averted her eyes again, feeling another blush reddening her face. Where was this coming from? Since when was Camille a real person capable of feelings and not an almighty dictator? And what was it with people today touching her shoulder?! Had she turned into one of those lucky statues that tourists rubbed and not noticed?

“You’re already on the right path, kid. All you gotta do now is keep going.” With that, the older woman patted Jinx shoulder a last time, and then went back to her seat. “You’re dismissed,” she said after giving Jinx a few moments to digest the previous conversation. Camille adjusted her glasses, and then continued, shooing Jinx from her office with a wave of her hand, “Your essay is due a week from now, and don’t forget to report to Ms. Laurent after your classes today; she’s already been informed of my decision, so I’ll know if you ditch Theatre, Ms. Harlow.”

Ms. Harlow. So Principal Ferros was back, then? Resisting the urge to slump in her seat and blink out of existence, Jinx got up and obeyed the sort-of-order from her principal, and quickly made her exit, closing the door to the woman’s office behind her.

“What the fuck?” she muttered once she was in the waiting room again, leaning her back against the door, and earning herself a bewildered look from Karma, who opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by Jinx’s raised hand. “I know, I know. Language,” the girl said, making air quotes, “I’ll just, uh, just gonna go,” Jinx added, pointing towards the corridor and doing her best to ignore Karma’s eyes on her back as she exited the waiting room and stepped out into the now deserted hallways of her school.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time doing anything of this sort. Lemme know what you think!


End file.
